Summer Doldrums
In many ways, I am no longer the person I was. I was a visionary, administrator, choral conductor, and teacher. Now I am a budding sommelier, wine retailer, genealogist, and amateur musicologist who is dealing with the onset of old age.
Arthritis is a gift from both my parents, who I never realized were working through a lot of daily pain. Before I left South Dakota arthritic conditions showed up in spinal stenosis – for which I had surgery in 2017 – and also in the knuckle joints of my hands, probably the result of years of pounding the piano during choral rehearsals.
Monday I go into surgery for a rotator cuff repair. At this moment I cannot lift my right arm more than to a horizontal plane (I never realized how ridiculously right-handed I was until now). I could not conduct nor teach conducting at this moment if my life depended on it.
This condition can be blamed on many factors – 1) my work at Total Wine, which entails lifting/pushing many cases of wine; 2) my own yardwork/housework, which is quite strenuous, 3) working and playing with the Doberdork, which is active and arduous, although one would never know that from the image to the right, and 4) from degenerative arthritis growth in my shoulder.
It has been almost three months that my shoulder has not been right. I have not been able to do things without tremendous pain. And after the surgery I am likely to be even less that person until physical rehabilitation is completed. Those of you who know me will understand that this situation is not something with which I will happily comply. I will not be able to 1) drive my sports car, 2) pilot my boat, 3) work at Total Wine, 3) do yardwork and gardening, 4) clean the house and do laundry, 5) go to the store, etc., etc. I am hopeful that my desk can be configured in such a way that I can at least access the computer and work on such things as my wine professional study, Isaac motets, website, and genealogy. I will be in a sling that immobilizes my shoulder.
Ah well, perhaps God is telling me to take some downtime. It’ll make me appreciate what I do have. It is annoying that it happens as the summer begins. It is the time of year when all the speed restrictions on the Caloosahatchee River are lifted because the manatees are far out in the Gulf. That means we can easily go by boat to downtown Ft. Myers (35 minutes) or all the way down to the Gulf, Ft. Myers Beach, Sanibel, Captiva, St. James City and other cool spots within 90 minutes. <sigh> Maybe Michelle will finally consent to learn how to pilot the boat (ha!) Can’t wait to see her reaction when she reads this.
Seriously, this will place a huge burden on Michelle because she leaves for her job around 6:30-7:00am and gets home about 6:30pm. And she’ll have to do many of the things around here that I usually do in addition to driving me to physical therapy. Here’s hoping that I recover quickly and can at least drive the automatic transmission car within a short period. It will be a fun experiment learning to do things with my left arm.
Here’s hoping you’re all doing well. Drop me a line or a call if you get a chance. I’ll probably be available! 🙂
